


Twice's the charm

by SheenaWilde



Category: The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
Genre: Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-23
Updated: 2017-06-23
Packaged: 2018-11-18 01:08:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11280576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SheenaWilde/pseuds/SheenaWilde
Summary: Basil is almost falling asleep, and Henry and Dorian absolutely need to know why.





	Twice's the charm

**Author's Note:**

  * For [emocsibe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/emocsibe/gifts).



> Written for the prompt of my friend, to get me out of writer's block.

“Basil! Basil! Shall we fetch you a pillow and a blanket?”

The painter looked up at that through heavy-lidded eyes, barely registering the teasing question at first. But then he sat up straight and rubbed his tired eyes with a sigh.

“Ah, no, no, I’m fine” he shook his head slowly, although he still felt the exhaustion cloud his mind. “But maybe I should head home, I am of no use anyway.”

“Don’t be like that, Basil! It’s more fun with you here” Dorian smiled at him from where he was leaning back against the end of the sofa, his legs lazily stretched out on it.

“Of course, only if you are awake for it” Lord Henry added, then reached for a cigar. He was always smoking, Basil mused, and his mind supplied him with the image of Henry’s form emerging from a cloud of smoke, as if he too was made up from smoke… He hung onto that image for a few seconds longer – he absolutely needed to paint that later. “Do tell me, Basil, what keeps you up at night?”

“Oh, it’s just- just work” Basil shrugged abruptly, then leaned back against the armchair, closing his eyes again. He didn’t really want to talk about that with Dorian and Henry, especially not right now. 

“Yes, I had that figured out already” Henry raised an eyebrow at him. “Is it another boring portrait ordered by some wealthy woman to show her ugly daughter to the world?”

“No, Harry, it’s not” Basil shook his head with an exasperated look but he heard Dorian laugh. The way Henry talked was still new to him, Basil was aware of that, and he was more amused by Dorian’s reaction most of the time than by what Henry said.

“Then what is it? Another declaration of love?” Dorian teased and Lord Henry barked out a laugh before taking a drag from his cigar. Basil faltered at hearing the words but snapped himself out of it before it showed.

“Maybe you shouldn’t spend so much time together with our mutual friend here” Basil frowned at Dorian, somewhat disapprovingly. “He is rubbing off on you in all the wrong ways…”

“Don’t think we didn’t notice how you’re evading telling us what you are painting” Lord Henry turned his eyes on him with a mischievous glint in them. “So far I wasn’t particularly interested in it but now you have made me curious. What could it be that my sweet Basil wants to hide it from me? Last time you did this, you were painting Dorian. Could it be that you are having a love affair?”

“For God’s sake, Harry, no!” Basil protested and turned his head away in embarrassment, although he was aware that the way his face turned red couldn’t be hidden. Henry was too outspoken for his taste on a good day, but when he was mocking him on purpose… “I really ought to get going now, what with the both of you teaming up on me.”

“Oh, don’t be like that, Basil!” Dorian sighed but his smirk never left his face as he got up from the sofa and walked over to Basil’s armchair, perching himself on one arm. He also took Basil’s hand in his while he leaned down to press a kiss to the painter’s cheek. He stayed there as he spoke, whispering his words directly against his skin. “You know we mean no harm, that we are just joking. Tell us about your newest painting, please.”

Basil just closed his eyes with a sigh and rested his head against the back of the chair. He knew that Dorian was manipulating him, he did so cleverly, professionally, but he couldn’t do anything against it. The innocent way Dorian did everything was almost enough to make him forget that the boy was very much aware of his own abilities. That he refined them with the help of Henry.

“Alright, alright” Basil muttered in defeat, but looked up first at Dorian, then at Henry with the strictest gaze possible. “But if either of you decide to mock me about it, I swear to God I won’t talk to you for a month.”

“We promise to be good, Basil” Dorian chuckled, then jokingly batted his eyelashes at the painter who couldn’t help but laugh, too.

“You always ask so much of me, my dear friend” Lord Henry shook his head as he stubbed his cigar. “But if that is the price I have to pay to sate my curiosity, I can do it for once.”

“Alright” Basil said again with a nod, then casting his eyes down, he continued. “It’s a painting about the two of you. Do you remember when we dined together at Henry’s place after that awful opera three weeks ago? After dinner you two stood in front of the fireplace with your cigars, elegant and grand, two slender shapes against the blackness of the night. Darkness surrounding you and the light between… The fire illuminated your faces and the patterns that the smoke traced in the air, and the scene was just so beautiful… It got stuck in my mind with no other way to get rid of than to paint it. Not that I want to forget it. On the contrary, I wish to paint it so I can always remember that moment about you.”

Silence followed the end of Basil’s little monologue, silence in which Basil grew all the more uncomfortable with his situation. He was aware of what he had just confessed, and Henry wasn’t stupid, either – Basil knew he had figured it out. He was prepared for the worst.

Lord Henry stood up from his armchair without a word and walked over to Basil’s, then crouched down in front of the painter. Basil looked at him in confusion, awaiting what was going to happen.

“Oh dear Basil, you should have known better than to keep something like this from me” Lord Henry smirked at Basil as he too reached for his hand and brought it to his mouth. Then he looked up into the painter’s eyes while he whispered against the soft skin of his delicate hand. “We could have had so much fun…”

Basil grew red at those words, but for once, he didn’t mind. He watched the way Henry’s lips moved against the skin on his hand, how those dark eyes looked straight into his soul, and it was finally a good thing. Then he felt Dorian raise the hand he was holding, too, and mimicking Henry by pressing a kiss to Basil’s hand, too. The painter watched the two of them with his heart hammering in entranced anticipation.

If this was what he got for simply telling them about his new painting, then showing the ready picture to them was promising to be well worth his efforts.


End file.
